Insurer Expects to be Named ‘Systemically Important’ Financial Institution Very Soon

MetLife. Inc. said its board has approved another $1 billion purchase of its common stock, as the company expects to be named “systemically important” by a new panel of federal regulators and therefore potentially subject to stiff but yet-to-be-determined capital rules.

The nation’s largest U.S. life insurer by assets said its board approved an increase in its authorization to repurchase its common stock as the company has nearly completed a $1 billion common stock buyback program that it initiated in June 2014.